This theoretical study guides the reader through some of Shakespeare's most emotionally
turbulent dramatic worlds offering a close examination of the fascinating emotional rhetoric
employed by several key characters. These characters manipulate others - and sometimes even
themselves - using a device broadly known in the terminology of rhetoric as 'emotional appeal'.
Although Shakespeare displays immense interest in the human passions and makes frequent use of
the tools of classical rhetoric this study presents the first systematic inquiry into the
emotional component of rhetoric in his drama. The book also offers the reader a broad
perspective on Shakespearean drama by highlighting diverse characters who embody the human
tendency to worship reason and rationalise reality. In contrast to those 'emotionally
intelligent' characters who acknowledge the crucial power of emotion in life and their
inability to neutralise it other characters deny this reality. Ironically it is precisely
those who deny emotion and obsessively seek rationality that eventually fall victim to their
own intense passion in some cases in response to emotional appeals from others.
